Fox Sports will use virtual fans created in Unreal Engine to fill empty stadiums in MLB broadcasts

Reminds me of the days of canned laughter sitcoms. Personally, I don't mind no crowd noise, real or canned because then my wife won't need to repeatedly tell me to turn the noise down on the TV.
 
The NBA is likely the only league that will be able to run this year. The webcam fan thing, that the NBA has, is kinda interesting. They also have crowd noise that reflects both what is happening in the game and which team is the designated “home” team. I watched the Raptors vs Lakers last night and it was alright.
 
next-Jin said:
Maybe I’m thinking outside the box here but shouldn’t the goal be getting paying customers into the seats? The only time I watch baseball is YouTube highlight reels of the World Series.

They are paying money to make it seem like they have more fanfare. It almost seems like they are buying followers on Twitter or something.

Installing VR into seating makes more sense but even that would cost a huge amount.
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Fox doesn't sell seats and there's a good chance that MLB won't be able to finish the season, despite massive testing and other efforts to keep players and management safe. Even if they could sell tickets to games, there's no way they're going to take on the liability of fans in the stands. Fans in the stand is essentially the same as the fantasy that there was going to be major concerts this summer and fall (and they probably won't happen next spring and summer either).
Besides, MLB teams are owned by a fuckton of billionaires. They can afford to lose a few million each...they won't even notice it and they'll write it off once they're making money again.
 
Baseball, eh never actually watch more than an inning at a time during the regular season. Usually just flip through to catch the score. No fans doesnt bother me. I only really watch the world series but even then not more than an inning or two at a time. Thats when no fans will really be weird, during the playoffs. The WS is always loud and raucous as hell with the fans going nuts. That will really bring home how wrong it is to have no crazies screaming their heads off. Fake fans are just fake.

Caught the end of the 3rd period of the blues game tonight. They were doing the replay thing about a last second goal. They were playing some shit music over the PA so loud it was hard to even hear the announcers. It was awful. No idea if they allowed the goal or not lol. Normally i would have waited to hear the verdict but the blaring music and lack of fan noise ruined what normally would have been a poignant moment.

Basketball and their bubble theory will allow for a completion to the season and playoffs. Baseball on the otherhand is going to pay hell trying to keep players virus free. Way to many variables to control effectively imo.
 
Maybe we could turn the stadiums in to open air markets, like what happened in Brazil after the world cup they hosted.

And when its closed for the night host some Rallycross.
 
next-Jin said:
Maybe I’m thinking outside the box here but shouldn’t the goal be getting paying customers into the seats? The only time I watch baseball is YouTube highlight reels of the World Series.

They are paying money to make it seem like they have more fanfare. It almost seems like they are buying followers on Twitter or something.

Installing VR into seating makes more sense but even that would cost a huge amount.
Click to expand...

Late reply, but: fan attendance is really out of the hands of the MLB and other sports leagues. Until there's a vaccine or a surefire treatment, in-person attendance isn't happening.

Can you imagine if they simply treated attendance as normal and told people the truth? "Welcome to Wrigley Field! We're sold out, with nearly 41,700 people in the seats. Now, based on historical COVID-19 data, there's a real chance a few hundred of you will die as a direct result of attending this game. You might as well buy the overpriced beer and hot dogs, then, since this might be the last sports match you ever see."
 
Let's just complete the circle.... get rid of all the real people involved. AI players play games watched by an AI crowd and AI refs/judges. Or just put a game of The Show / Madden / NBA2k / NHL etc etc on autoplay and broadcast that?

Think of the savings!
 
Just wait until they fully morph into youtube, where half the viewers are bots.
 
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